The US government admits negligence in the January helicopter crash near Washington
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The US government admitted on Wednesday that the Federal Aviation Administration and the Army played a role in the crash of a Black Hawk helicopter near the nation’s capital, killing 67 people in the deadliest accident in the US in more than two decades.
The official response to the original lawsuit filed by the family of one of the victims claimed that the government was responsible for the crash because the air traffic controller violated procedures that night. The filing also said that the failure of the helicopter pilots to “maintain vigilance to detect and avoid” the aircraft made the government liable.
But the filing suggested that others, including the pilots, were also involved. The lawsuit also blamed American Airlines and its regional partner, PSA Airlines, for the crash, but those airlines filed motions to dismiss.
Investigators say rescue efforts remain a priority after a passenger plane collided with a military helicopter in Washington, but hopes of finding survivors in the frigid Potomac River are fading fast.
At least 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River after a helicopter flew into the path of an American Airlines flight on Jan. 29 when it arrived at Ronald Reagan National Airport in northern Virginia, just across the river from the nation’s capital, officials said.
The plane was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members, while three soldiers were on board the helicopter.
Robert Clifford, one of the lawyers for the family of the victim Casey Crafton, said that the government admitted “the military’s responsibility for the loss of life is unnecessary” and the FAA’s failure to follow air traffic control procedures while “rightfully” admitting that others – American Airlines and PSA Airlines – also contributed to the death.
The families of the deceased “are still grieving and focused on the grief caused by this killing,” he said.
Government lawyers said in the filing that “the United States acknowledges that it has an obligation to take care of the plaintiffs, which it violated, thereby causing a tragic accident.”
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will release its report on the cause of the accident early next year, but investigators have already highlighted several factors that contributed, including the helicopter flying 24 meters above the 61 meter limit on the runway that allowed little separation between the planes sitting on the second runway of Reagan and the helicopters passing below.
The NTSB also said the FAA failed to recognize the dangers surrounding the busy airport even after 85 mishaps in the three years before the accident.
